Animal Behavior
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Transcript Animal Behavior
Animal Behavior
What is behavior?
Behavior is anything an animal
does in response to a stimulus in
its environment
Environmental cues, such as change
of temperature and the length of
daylight
Heat is a stimulus for the lizard to seek
shade
Change in temp and day length is a
stimulus for a whale to leave the summer
time habitat in the arctic
Innate Behavior
Inborn behavior- programmed by genes
Fixed-Action Patterns
Unchanged sequence of patterns
Triggered by a particular stimulus
Often involved activities critical for
survival
Rhythms of Behavior-Biological Clock
Circadian rhythm~24 hour cycle
Nocturnal vs diurnal
Tidal
seasonal
Automatic responses to stimuli
Reflex- simplest form of innate behavior
A reflex is a simple, automatic response that
involves no conscious control
Blinking , moving your hand from something
hot
Fight or flight response- mobilized the body
for greater activity
Body is prepared for danger
Automatic and controlled by internal
chemical mechanisms
Being scared- heart rate increase
Instinctive Behavior Patterns
An instinct is a complex pattern of
innate behavior
A reflex can happen in less then a
second while instinctive behavior
patterns may have several parts and
may take weeks to complete
sea gulls
Instinctive behavior begins when the
animal recognizes a stimulus and
continues until all parts of the behavior
have been preformed
Taxis
In taxis, the animal moves toward or
away from a stimulus.
Taxis is often exhibited when the stimulus is
light, heat, moisture, sound, or chemicals
Example: Wood louse and humidity seeking
behavior
Living in humid areas required for survival
Prolonged exposure to dry air = death
General Tendency to keep moving in dry and
stop when in moist
Only senses humidity of present location
Other types of
instinctive behavior patterns
Courtship behavior
Territorial
Aggression
Dominance of hierarchy (submission)
Internal and external cues
Circadian rhythm, migration, hibernation,
estivation
Instinctive Behavior Patterns
continued
Courtship behavior ensures
reproduction
Courtship behavior- is a behavior that
males and females of a species carry
out before matting
Helps them recognize other members
of their species
Why is this important?
Territoriality reduces competition
Chipmunks chasing chipmunks from bird
feeders
The chipmunk is defending his territory
A territory is a physical space an
animals defends against other members
of its species
Contains the animals breeding area, feeding
area, and potential mates
Territorial behavior has survival value for both
the animal and the species… why?
Aggression threatens
other animals
Aggression is behavior that us used
to intimidate another animal
Animals fight or threaten one another
in order to defend their young,
territory, resources
Behavior includes birds singing, teeth
baring, growling
Submission leads to dominance
Think of having a younger or older
sibling? Who wins when you argue?
Usually the older or stronger wins.
With animals aggressive behavior may
occur in groups. In these groups there
may be different levels of dominant and
submissive animals.
A dominance hierarchy is a form of social ranking
in which some individuals are more subordinate
then others.
Submission
In a group normally one animal is
top-ranking
Leads others to food, water and
shelter
Dominate males father most of the
offspring
In groups there are different levels
of dominance think pecking order
Behavior resulting from
internal and external cues
Some behavior is based on a 24 hour
day/night cycle
What are some examples of this?
The 24 hour, light-regulated,
sleep/wake cycle of behavior is called
circadian rhythm.
Keeps you alert during day
Relaxing you at night
Works when you forget to set your alarm
Rhythm is controlled by genes yet are influenced
by jet lag and work conditions
More on rhythms
Occurs on a yearly or seasonal cycle
Migration= seasonal
Migration= instinctive, seasonal movement of animals
Birds
Whales
Change in day length triggers
migration
Learned and natural behavior
Young animals learn when and how from
their parents
Other types of
internal and external cues
Hibernation
A state of inactivity
where body temperature
drops a lot, breathing
slows.
Happens in cold
environments
Conserves energy
Animals will eat a lot
before they
hibernate
Storage of fat provides
fuel for body.
Estivation
State of reduced
metabolism that
occurs in animals
living in conditions of
intense heat.
Animals that lack
food or water will
experience this
Learned Behavior
33.2
What is learned behavior?
When behavior changes because of
practice or experience.
More complex brains can learn more
Innate behaviors (the ones we already
talked about) are more common in
invertebrates and learned behaviors are
more common in vertebrates
Why is learning important?
Survival
Animals can respond to changing conditions
Allows animals to adapt to change
Important for animals with long life
spans.
Longer you live the greater chance of the
environment changing
Habituation: A simple form of learning
A lack of a response
Ex horses not being effected by cars
Occurs when an animal is
repeatedly give a stimulus that is
not associated with any
punishment or reward
Imprinting: A permanent attachment
Form of learning in which an animal
at a specific critical time in its life
forms a social attachment to
another object
Ex- ducklings following their mom
Only occurs at a specific time in life
Is difficult to reverse and is
considered irreversible.
Child abuse video clip
Operant Conditioning
Learning by trial and error
Repeating many times to become
successful
An animal receives an award for a
particular response
Happens best with motivation
An internal need that causes an animal to
act, and it is necessary for learning to take
place
Big Bang Theory- Operant Conditioning
Video Clip pigeon
Classical Conditioning
Learning by association
Sound of the can opener calling your pet
The pet has been conditioned to respond to a
stimulus other then the smell of food.
Classical conditioning is learning by
association.
Pavlov’s dog
Video Clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhqumfpxuzl
Insight
The most complex type of learning
Reason for Problem solving
An animal uses previous experience
to respond to a new situation.
Common in Humans and primates.
Chimp & peanut video clip
Plant responses
Plant Hormones
Hormones
Regulate growth and development
They are a chemical that is produced in one
part of an organism and is transported to
another part, where is causes a physiological
change
Only a small amount of hormone is needed to make a
change
Important hormones
Ethylene
ripening
Gibberellins
Increases size of stems & fruit
Cytokinins
Stimulate cell division
Cause dormant seeds to grow
***Auxins
Stimulate cell elongation
Tropic responses in plants
Tropism is a plant’s response to an
external stimulus
The tropism is called positive if the
plant grows toward the stimulus
The tropism is called negative if the
plant grows away from the stimulus
Phototropism
Young Plant Shoots
Bending Toward Light
Caused by uneven
distribution of auxin in
plants system
More auxin on side away
from light.
Gravitropic response
Associated with upward growth of
stems and the downward growth of
roots
Plants response to gravity
Thigmotropism
Response to
touch
Nastic response
Responsive
movement of a
plant that is not
dependent on the
direction of the
stimulus
Ex Venus-fly trap